Overview

This new family of digital resources for 20th-century international studies provides global perspectives on many of today’s most relevant research areas. Each of these unique collections offers new insight and unprecedented opportunities for teaching and scholarship in some of the most-searched topics in libraries today. Researchers are increasingly looking to 20th-century geopolitics to complement and inform a variety of disciplines, and these five collections from the Archives of the Central Intelligence Agency give libraries the opportunity to meet these current needs of their institutions.

Each is comprised of primary source documents from around the world, including government publications, magazines, newspapers and transcribed television and radio broadcasts, all collected and translated by the Central Intelligence Agency between 1941 and 1996. All are available individually, giving libraries the opportunity to tailor their research collections to the current needs of their students and scholars. In addition, the interfaces enable researchers to easily browse the collections by a broad range of topics, each providing highly relevant results for users at all levels.

Reviews

“Twentieth-Century Global Perspectives [is] a new family of digital resources for teaching and research in popular topics in academic libraries. Each of these collections offers new insight for teaching and scholarship in 20th-century geopolitics for a variety of disciplines. The five collections from the Archives of the Central Intelligence Agency are comprised of primary source documents from around the world, including government publications, magazines, newspapers, and transcribed television and radio broadcasts, all collected and translated by the Central Intelligence Agency between 1941 and 1996.”— Reference 2017, supplement to Library Journal (Nov. 1, 2016)

“Twentieth-Century Global Perspectives is the collective title for five new Readex full-text databases of primary source materials derived from communications media and government documents produced outside North America. Collections feature topical selections drawn from the Central Intelligence Agency's Foreign Broadcast Information Service (FBIS) Daily Reports, 1941–1996 or its Joint Publications Research Service (JPRS) Reports, 1957–1995.

“Apartheid: Global Perspectives 1946–1996…focuses on South African racial policy with numerous references to treatment of subordinated peoples elsewhere. Media sources covered are primarily from South Africa, the Soviet Union, or China, with occasional coverage elsewhere.…American Race Relations: Global Perspectives, 1941–1996…features African American and other US minorities' experiences during and following World War II as recorded by foreign governments and the media. Immigrations, Migrations and Refugees: Global Perspectives, 1941–1996…focuses on persons displaced or otherwise impacted by conflict (e.g., Vietnamese, Palestinian, or Salvadoran peoples, among others) ….The Cold War: Global Perspectives on East-West Tensions, 1945–1991…includes primary sources that document the pervasive fear (or favor) regarding communism and related ideologies as these sentiments were brought to bear on international alliances, wars and conflicts, economic relationships, technological competition and exchange, and the worldwide demonstration of support for (or opposition to) emerging post-colonial nations. The final collection, Middle East and North Africa: Global Perspectives, 1958–1994 … covers reporting from within and outside the relevant countries of that part of the world where commentary on politics, the economy, social relations, and ethnicity often appears inseparable from religious practice for much of the population….Summing Up: Recommended. Undergraduates through researchers/faculty; professionals/practitioners.”—K. Cleland-Sipfle, Southern Oregon University in Choice (Nov. 2016)

Apartheid, the Afrikaans word for “apartness,” defined life in South Africa in the mid-20th century. As white colonists systematically stripped away the rights of Native Africans, the effects of their actions seeped through South Africa, reverberating throughout the continent and the… Learn more.

The Korean and Vietnam wars were two of the defining events of the 20th century. While the origins of both are rooted in their countries’ respective histories, much of the world regarded the wars as proxies for the larger Cold War… Learn more.

As America transitioned from the Jim Crow era to the Civil Rights movement and beyond, the rest of the world paid close attention. The only comprehensive collection covering these foreign reactions to America’s racial struggles in the mid-20th century is American… Learn more.

For wide-ranging perspectives on human migration that stretch far beyond the borders of the United States, Immigrations, Migrations and Refugees: Global Perspectives, 1941-1996, is an unparalleled new resource. This fully searchable digital archive includes firsthand accounts from reputable sources around the… Learn more.

Beginning at the end of World War II and continuing through the Cold War period and beyond, tools of radioactive, chemical, and biological warfare played a role in many of the 20th century’s most significant events. From the Cuban missile crisis… Learn more.

For anyone seeking to understand one of the world’s most complex, volatile and internationally significant regions, Middle East and North Africa: Global Perspectives, 1958-1994, is an indispensable resource. This fully searchable online archive offers firsthand reporting and deep analysis on important issues… Learn more.

With more than 170 foreign and 31 domestic bureaus, Xinhua, or New China News Agency, has a broad reach in China and around the world. And as the official organ of China’s Communist Party, it’s long provided the country’s perspective on… Learn more.

For decades the official newspaper of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, Pravda was widely read both within the Soviet states and by foreign diplomats, politicians, and intelligence agencies. Researchers have long considered Pravda a bellwether of Soviet thought, yet… Learn more.

From the end of World War II to the early 1990s, the Cold War was the central driving force in global politics. In addition to nuclear arms races and shifting military alliances, the Cold War years had a critical impact on… Learn more.

From politics to human rights to environmental issues, protests and reform movements have shaped modern global society. A protest that marked a turning point in one country, however, may have had entirely different consequences for another. Readex’s World Protest and Reform… Learn more.